These Black Women Hope To Create A Lane Of Their Own Within The Republican Party

The GOP may be forever changed.

The Republican Party is seeing some new faces within the party and they are Black women.

During an episode of new podcast series, The Switch Up hosted by The Hill’s Cheyanne M. Daniels, Black women representing the GOP came together to discuss what it means to be a Black woman in a space crowded by predominantly white men.

Two of the podcast guests were Kimberly Klacik and Roxy Ndebumadu. Ndebumadu got her start in big tech but after seeing a lack of diversity in the tech world, she spoke about her feelings to her mentor, Fred Humphries. It was then that he recommended that she should run for office. “He said, ‘Maybe you should run for office. And I said, ‘Fred, have you met me? What is going on here? No!,’” Ndebumadu told Daniels.

“And I respected Fred…so I said maybe I should. So I looked into running for elected office. It was about 45 days before the city council election and I said ‘You know what? Why not! If I don’t tell my story, who’s going to tell it? If I don’t represent my people, who’s going to represent my people?”

She ran her race in 2019 and was elected for Bowie District 4 Councilmember in Maryland — becoming the youngest and first African-American woman to serve in the position.

Black women have been gaining political traction ever since Shirley Chisholm’s historic election to Congress in 1968. However, most have been in alignment with Democrats. But this new generation of Black women are hoping to bring change and diversity to the Republican Party. “Many women, we are the leaders in our own household. And to me it would be a no-brainer that we are part of the political arena as well,” Maryland GOP hopeful Kimberly Klacik said.

“Now it’s still a male-dominated world but I think now, you have more women at the table talking about these issues that are much more important to women.”

In February 2024, Klacik, a conservative radio talk show host and heavy supporter of former President Donald Trump, announced her second campaign for Congress. After an unsuccessful run for the 7th Congressional District in 2020, Klacik is eyeing the seat to represent the 2nd Congressional District seat, vacated by Democratic Rep. Dutch Ruppersberger, according to WYPR.

The new district consists of mainly blue supporters, including a majority of Baltimore and Carroll Counties, as well as a portion of Baltimore City, but she feels up to the task. “I’m no stranger to a challenge,” Klacik said.

“I do believe that we can win this.”

Described by Daniels as “unicorns,” most Black women in politics reflect Democratic values, but for Ndebumadu, it’s the Republican party that mimics her upbringing. “When I reflect on the way that I grew up as a Black woman, as a first generation American, and daughter of Nigerian immigrant parents, I have to reflect and remember what values were important to us and the values I was raised with and that were instilled with us at the time of youth,” the councilwoman said.

“Which were family values, which were that you can’t depend on the government for everything, which were that education is key and priority, which were that it doesn’t matter your circumstances, you need to figure out a way to thrive. And that’s how I grew up, that’s what was instilled in me.”

She admits that it’s those values that align with the Republican party – “not saying the Republican party today because it looks a little different,” Ndebumadu said, “but from its inception and premise from what the Republican party was founded.”

The GOP struggles with recruiting Black supporters as some don’t trust the anti-Black rhetoric seen, including eliminating Black history courses and Trump equating his legal woes with the Black experience. However, Ndebumadu thinks those are just words unless there are actions to back it up. “You can’t say that we are a party that is for you if you’re not willing to walk the walk. So, unfortunately, until the broader party is willing to walk the walk, it doesn’t matter what they say, the messaging will never matter,” she said.

She added, “Cause at the end of the day, what I have learned as an elected official is that people resonate with what they can feel. People resonate with what they can see, how it directly affects their life in that moment. And if they can not feel it, it does not exist so it doesn’t matter what you say.”